Ruili is a Chinese language metropolis proper on the border to Myanmar, and a serious border crossing. After I final visited the city virtually 10 years in the past, it had a Wild West really feel, and Wikipedia claims that it’s “an necessary location for commerce with Myanmar, in each authorized and unlawful items and providers” however it appeared fairly tame to me this time. My main battle within the metropolis was with the tools in a brilliant trendy lodge room, with directions all in Chinese language, stopping me from getting a sizzling bathe and sizzling espresso within the morning. I admit this isn’t fairly on the extent of fellow writers’ posts describing birding as an excessive sport.
The proximity to the Myanmar border is mirrored within the presence of Burmese Shrikes right here – on the unsuitable facet of the border, however it’s well-known that this species has by no means been notably good at geography.
Its scientific identify is a bit pathetic – collurioides, that means that it resembles (-oides) the Crimson-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio). A extremely inventive identify this isn’t.
The identical park in Ruili additionally had Lengthy-tailed Shrike, presumably subspecies tricolor, which right here seems to be fairly totally different from the subspecies frequent in Shanghai (schach). If you’re impressed by me mentioning subspecies, don’t be – I simply appeared it up within the HBW however mainly, I nonetheless suppose that subspecies must be unlawful.
By some means I had beforehand not observed the fantastic thing about the Coppersmith Barbet, a chook that may certainly be recognized comparatively simply by its name that can also be liable for its identify (it’s a metallic name that sounds considerably like a coppersmith hammering metallic).
This photograph explains the scientific species identify haemacephalus (bloodheaded).
Curiously, the Chinese language identify highlights the pink breast relatively than the pink head – it interprets roughly as “Crimson-breasted Imitation Woodpecker”.
The HBW – in a barely Puritan streak – appears to criticize the work ethics of the species: “It apparently begins exercise 5-10 minutes earlier than dawn, later than different chook species sharing its habitat”. Possibly it’s simply higher at attaining a great work-life steadiness.
Happily for human males, the standard courtship of people differs from that of the Coppersmith Barbets, which the HBW describes as follows: “When the nest is prepared, the male could start courtship feeding, providing fruit to the feminine. The feminine typically rejects this fruit, turning her again and defecating within the course of the male”. A extra detailed (and barely much less disgusting) description of the mating conduct could be discovered right here.
One paper on the species and its breeding conduct has the great sentence “Coppersmith barbet lives fortunately both alone, in pairs, or in small teams of 4 to 5 birds”.
In keeping with an article within the Enterprise Customary, “Ashy Drongos have chosen the damaging profession of tackling bugs with nasty stings though they don’t possess protecting dense feathers or thick-skin across the eye”.
Ashy Drongos can apparently mimic different birds and imitate the motion of different chook species, then subsequently attempt to steal their meals (supply).
As with many different drongo species, the Ashy Drongo principally simply sits someplace and appears round, an exercise which in a paper is politely described as “Scanning”.
Whereas the Ashy Drongo thus spends 71% of its time, the Bronzed Drongo tops this with 76%, in line with the identical paper.
“Not lazy, simply scanning”
Each time there’s a kind to fill out, the Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike curses its identify. By the point it has completed, the opposite species are already ready in line on the counter, and it has to maneuver to the tip of that line.
The chook has now began utilizing its scientific identify, Hemipus picatus, as it’s considerably shorter.
Maybe the center part of weblog posts must be comparatively boring so as to do away with the extra informal readers. So, listed here are some frequent birds seen at Ruili:
Gray Heron
Plumbeous Water Redstart
White-capped Redstart
Olive-backed Pipit
Crimson-vented Bulbul
Crimson-whiskered Bulbul
If this put up was a tune, the part above may be known as the center eights, although in a great tune, the center eights are typically extra fascinating.
Which is nearly as good as any location on this put up to say one other tune favourite, “Faux Empire“, as regular by The Nationwide.
After studying a shiny celeb paper – perhaps about an Oscar celebration – the eBird reviewer will get again to writing quick descriptions of birds however nonetheless has the vocabulary of the journal in his or her head. The result’s an outline of the Velvet-fronted Nuthatch like this: “One of many few nuthatches to interrupt the final impartial coloration scheme of the household, this stunner could be fairly frequent …”.
This species is a cavity nester however unable to construct its personal cavities. Not an ideal state of affairs given the power housing scarcity in appropriate environments. For instance, one paper states that in Sri Lanka’s cloud forest, solely about 3% of all timber have appropriate cavities.
For some cause, the Mandarin Chinese language identify of the Scarlet Minivet interprets as “Crimson Mountain Pepper Chicken”
I do hope a Chinese language reader of this weblog can clarify the origin or that means of this identify.
The web site nepaldesk.com has an outline of the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush that reads prefer it has been written by ChatGPT after particularly having obtained directions to mock tourism businesses:
“With its pleasant presence, the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush is a logo of Nepal’s wealthy avian range. Recognizing its worth for eco-tourism and biogeographical analysis, it’s important to preserve this magnificent chook. Preserving its habitat by way of sustainable practices and inspiring accountable wildlife tourism are essential steps in making certain the continued existence of this charismatic species. In conclusion, the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush provides a splash of coloration and allure to the already spellbinding Nepali wilderness. As we proceed exploring Nepal’s unparalleled magnificence and biodiversity, allow us to recognize these vivid gems hidden in its forests and try to guard them for future generations to admire.”
Frequent Tailorbirds could be very productive, with as much as 4 broods per yr (supply).
In 93% of circumstances, the birds constructed new nests for every brood regardless of on common solely transferring 10 meters away from the earlier nesting website. This might trace at an answer for the struggling Chinese language housing market – transferring to a brand new house for every new youngster? However, most Chinese language {couples} solely have one youngster anyway, so this might not make an excessive amount of of a distinction within the total housing demand.
Some analysis matters appear a bit weird to me. A paper on the Little Cormorant is titled “Actions of the Little Cormorant, Phalacrocorax niger (Vieillot) in relation to daylight in captivity”. Not solely was this examine achieved in a zoo, which ought to severely have an effect on the relevance of the end result. It additionally appears that no person has ever proofread the summary because it incorporates the next puzzling sentence:
“Time spent in preening was the best (32.25 min/h) in wet day. Lowest (22.47 min/h) in cloudy day and intermediate (14.73 min/h) in sunny day.” Peer overview, schmeer overview?
One other paper asks “Does the weight loss program of the Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger have an effect on business fisheries?”. And concludes that it presumably does.
Slaty-backed Forktails appear to be fairly frequent at Moli Tropical Rainforest Spot, a birding location about half an hour away from Ruili by automobile.
2024 additionally lastly sees the long-awaited launch of a paper on the whole mitochondrial genome of the Slaty-backed Forktail. I hope there are nonetheless a number of species left for future scientists to research.
Aside from bugs, these forktails additionally eat small fish – some images could be seen in this paper.
Lastly, the White-hooded Babbler seems to be a bit like it’s a proud member of essentially the most unique tennis membership in a smallish city. However I don’t maintain that towards the species.
